Concerns in Chicago over Obama library proposal

6/26/12 2:18 PM EDT

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that some of the faculty at the University of Chicago are concerned that a proposed presidential library for President Obama could affect the institution's nonpartisan leanings:

“I want to raise the alarm because I think a presidential museum will inevitably become our university’s highest-profile institution on a national basis,” Political Science Professor Charles Lipson said. “It will not be a disinterested, scholarly institution. It will be advancing a political agenda, funded by President Obama’s political allies, including foreign donors who cannot give money to his presidential campaigns.”

The Reagan Library in California attracts conservative speakers and serves as a launching pad for Republican ideas, Lipson said. The Kennedy and Carter libraries in Boston and Atlanta attract liberal speakers and serve as staging grounds for liberal causes, he said.

The University of Chicago’s Kalven Report mandates that the university may not tie itself to political or partisan causes. Hitching the university to Obama’s legacy would do just that, Lipson said.

The site of the Obama library has not been decided — but Chicago and Hawaii are obvious choices given the president's background. Obama was a law school lecturer there during many of his years in Chicago, and first lady Michelle Obama served as an administrator at the university hospital.

The University of Chicago is perhaps best-known for a conservative economics department and a conservative law school — though other faculties and departments do lean more liberal.